Terrorists who fled from Syria and Iraq have been arriving to southern Libya and now gained control over the area, Foreign Minister of Chad Mahamat Zene Cherif said in an interview with Sputnik
ASWAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2019) Terrorists who fled from Syria and Iraq have been arriving to southern Libya and now gained control over the area, Foreign Minister of Chad Mahamat Zene Cherif said in an interview with Sputnik."We have noticed insurgents arriving [from Syria and Iraq]. They congregate in the south of Libya. We discuss this at every one of our meetings. Most of them are foreigners, but there are Arabs as well," the minister said.
Libya is split between two governmental entities competing for power � the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar in the east and the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) of Fayez Sarraj in the west. According to the Chadian foreign minister, neither of these governments has control over the country's south.
"The south of Libya at the moment is controlled by terrorists and other outlaws, arms smugglers, drug traffickers, and human traffickers," Cherif said.
He added that the president of Chad, Idriss Deby, had asked for Russia's help in fighting terrorism when he met with President Vladimir Putin during the Russia-Africa Summit in October.
Terrorists of various factions, primarily the Islamic State group (banned in Russia), gained sizable territories in Iraq and Syria in the mid 2010s, especially in the course of the Syrian war. By 2017, terrorist forces were significantly subdued, and the government and opposition concluded a ceasefire.
According to the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, "disillusioned and disappointed" foreign terrorist fighters left Syria after realizing that the groups that had recruited them had not made good on their promises. With Libya engulfed in an open military conflict, the risk of the country becoming a new stronghold for terrorists and extremists is becoming especially acute.
The fight against terrorism was among the central topics the participants of the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum discussed.
